Birman Cat Pictures

The breed standards are set out on the relevant registry’s website but pictures and diagrams never accompany the words (at least until now, at early 2008). As I’ve said elsewhere on this site, I think it is helpful to be able to refer to the best examples of the cat breed in question when reading and thinking about the breed standard. That’s what I am attempting to do on this page in referring to the CFA standard.

Photo: ©  Gianluca Neri

I discuss the standard informally and not necessarily all of it. Enough is covered, though, to get a really good understanding especially as you’ve got great Birman Cat pictures to look at too.

The body of this cat should be elongated and stocky. I’m not sure these two charactertistics are compatible but the message is that this cat is not cobby like a Manx or a Persian nor slender like some of the modern breeds.

The coat should be silky and long. Helmi’s pictures of the cats Hidden and Brita in the slide show give a nice feel for the body type and coat. This cat is a little more slender than the stocky cats and the hair less long than some long haired cats (Persian).

The head should be strong, broad and rounded. The head of this cat is similar to that of a Traditional Persian cat or Himalayan, for example; quite a “nomal” and rounded head. The nose should be medium in length (indicating a standard type conformation). There is more language, in the standard, that indicates strength. For example, the jaw should be heavy and the chin strong.

If you were a layperson (not a cat fancier) you’d call the ears standard in size and look.

Photo: © Claudia Birmans –
This cat is  lilac-tabby-point called Minosse

The coat is just short of being long. There should be a ruff. The Birman cat pictures including the one just above demonstrate this admirably. A desirable quality of the coat is what is called “the golden mist”, which is a “faint golden beige” on the back and sides.

The gloves (white fur on the feet) are of course an important feature.

Fur – The line of white fur on the front paws should stop at the point where the paw to leg joint bends when standing. The paws should have symmetrical gloves. The back paws should have white fur covering all the toes. On the back of the leg the white fur should extend up the leg (the hock part of the leg). This pattern is called “laces”. Laces should not go outside the boundary of the hock (i.e. higher than the joint above the hock). There is more to gloves (it’s quite a science) – please read the full standard.

The language most often used is: – medium – heavy – strong – rounded – sweet – large. When you simply list the adjectives describing various parts of the body, I think, you get a nice overall feel for the kind of appearance that this cat should present.